Based on my previous designs, and my fiddling and learning of various methods, I use the use of models and deformations to render animations.
The first thing I decided to use was to use curve modifiers to control the path and speed of the vine. Then I use the binding parent-child relationship to control the leaves and fruits of the vine.
I started by drawing the path I needed for the plant’s movement using curves.
Then I made a model of Fujiman and a model of the leaves. By establishing bound parent-child relationships, I try to control the growth of the leaves and fruits on Vineman to ensure that they match the growth rate and direction of the main path.
During the initial experimental phase, I tried a variety of ways to control the animation of the Fujiman, but it didn’t always work as well as I would have liked. Leaves are always not in their normal form when they are linked to ivy, like they are shooting out. And then some paths on the ivy are not normal even in their most basic form.
Through reviewing many sources, and inquiring with people who have tried and succeeded with this problem, I found that my mistake was willing to be that the center of mass of the ivy is not coincident with the origin, and that the direction of the ivy needs to be connected to the direction of the origin of the path. Through many attempts and adjustments, I finally found a way to show the effect of Fujiman’s growth correctly and without error.
Path and speed control: I adjusted the path of the vineman using curve modifiers, trying different speeds and curve patterns to achieve the growth I wanted.
Leaf and Fruit Control: By creating bound parent-child levels, I try to control the growth of leaves and fruits on the Vineman to make sure they match the growth rate and direction of the main path.
After a lot of trial and error and a lot of tweaking, I’ve managed to achieve the desired effect of using modeling and deformation animation to show the growth process of the Vine Mane.
I plan to further improve the animation of the other parts of the plant and incorporate more elements into the animation to make it more vivid and realistic.